Greenhouses and other enclosures of a temporary, permanent, or semi-permanent nature are known in the prior art. Such structures often have a rigid skeleton to which flexible sheeting material is attached so that an interior thereof is substantially isolated from a surrounding environment. The sheeting material is typically at least partially transparent to allow light to pass there through. Greenhouses are typically provided to extend a growing season or to provide a growing environment where plant growth factors, such as temperature and light, can be precisely controlled.
Similar enclosures are also provided for a variety of other purposes, limited only by the imagination. Such enclosures generally have a rigid skeleton of various elongate truss members and sheeting material placed over this skeleton to complete the enclosure. In some instances the sheeting material can be in the form of rigid panels or semi-rigid panels, as an alternative to flexible sheeting material.
One common general form for such enclosures is to have two opposite ends of the enclosure provided with flat end walls which are in parallel planes and which are spaced from each other by a length of the enclosure. A cross-sectional shape of the enclosure is matched by these two end walls. A length of such an enclosure can be variable with appropriate truss structures provided periodically between the two end walls. Sheeting material is then placed over an outer surface of this skeleton and optionally also over the end walls to enclose the enclosure from a surrounding environment. Typically, necessary penetrations into the enclosure, including doors, windows, vents, etc., are provided primarily in the end walls so that the sheeting material completing the enclosure does not require any penetrations there through. As an alternative, various other portals into the enclosure may be provided through this sheeting material and through the side walls. Such enclosures are thus beneficially modular, in that their length can be selected by a user and the end walls merely placed further or closer together to match the desired volume for the enclosure.
In some instances it is desirable to be able to control light flow into the enclosure, to selectively either allow light to pass into the enclosure or to block light from passing into the enclosure. One term for light blocking systems in greenhouses and other enclosures is “light deprivation systems.” While it is known to suspend curtains within an interior of the enclosure as a form of light deprivation system, such curtain suspension systems inherently have multiple drawbacks. The present system takes many design flaws and gaps and solves for them with unique solutions to develop an entire operable system. They are difficult to position in a light occluding orientation and to return back to a stored orientation. Even when fully deployed, such curtain systems in the prior art typically do not occlude all of the light passing into the enclosure. Again, the lack of complete occlusion and durability makes the present system unique. Furthermore, the curtains in the prior art extend into an interior of the enclosure somewhat making it more difficult to fully utilize all of the space within the enclosure. Also, the process of deploying and retracting such prior art curtain systems is arduous and time consuming. Accordingly, a need exists for an enclosure, and especially a modular enclosure, which includes a light deprivation system that can be automatically deployed and fully occlude light when deployed, while also being easy to automatically return to a stored orientation when the curtains or other shade elements of the light deprivation system are not to be used.